


Legacy of the Benders

by Storm_Blessed



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki & Midoriya Izuku are Best Friends, Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot, Bakugou Katsuki is Bad at Feelings, Bakugou Katsuki is a Dork, Canon-Typical Violence, Firebending & Firebenders, Gen, He uses his Healing to help homeless people and the police are like 'but thats illegal', He's still a litttle shit though, Hero Midoriya Izuku, Katsuki Bakugo is nice to Midoriya, Midoriya Hisashi is a firebender, Midoriya Izuku Does Not Have One for All Quirk, Midoriya Izuku Has a Quirk, Midoriya Izuku is a Bender, Midoriya Izuku is a Nerd, Midoriya Izuku is a Ray of Sunshine, Midoriya Izuku is a Waterbender, Midoriya Izuku understands Bakugo and his 'is bad at feelings', Protective Bakugou Katsuki, Protective Midoriya Izuku, Sort Of, Tsundere Bakugou Katsuki, Vigilante Midoriya Izuku, Waterbending & Waterbenders, Will post more tags as they become relevant, but not really
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-15
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-03-06 00:52:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18840286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Storm_Blessed/pseuds/Storm_Blessed
Summary: Years ago, Benders were abundant in the world and the Avatar led the people through all trials back towards peace. However, slowly but surely, bending ability became less and less common, to the point that it faded into myth and legend, and then was forgotten about completely.But, there were a few families that preserved their bending abilities by maintaining their spiritual connections with Spirits and the spirit world, the Midoriya Family being one of them. Now in the age of Quirks, those families who still practice bending arts are able to flourish, and if they have the ambition, they can become some of the greatest Heroes.This is the story of Izuku Midoriya, a Boy who dreams of being a Hero that can save everyone, and preserve their hopes with his presence and smile. Follow Izuku as he discovers his Bender abilities and as he works towards becoming one of the greatest heroes of his generation.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone, this is my first Fan Fiction that I am posting to AO3, but I am currently working on a few other works plus this one in this fandom. Please let me know what you think in the comments and if you have any suggestions then please let me know.
> 
> I have already written 6 chapters of similar length to this one and do not see myself stopping anytime soon, so you have a guarantee of future content for at least a few more weeks. I think i will be posting every couple of days until I catch up to where I have written and then I will post as I write the chapters. 
> 
> With all that said, Please enjoy

Izuku Midoriya was beyond excited. Not only was it his 4th Birthday and he had been spoiled by his parents, but now his father was leading him by the hand to the one place in the house that he has been forbidden from entering his whole life. He had no idea what was in the basement that his parents were so strict about him not entering it, but the fact that the mystery was about to be solved had him happily bouncing from foot to foot in excitement.

Taking a key from around his neck, Hisashi Midoriya opened up the door to the basement of their house and then led his excited son down into his family training halls and library.

As they were walking down the steps he began to speak, “Izuku my son, where we are about to go is the legacy left to us by our ancestors, our family who came before us and worked hard to ensure that this knowledge and place would be passed down to us. This is the Library of the Elements” Coming to the bottom of the long stairs, the basement lights activated and revealed a large room separated into four distinct corners that are coloured blue, green, red and a soft yellow. In each corner were seating arrangements and shelves upon shelves of scrolls and books.

Gasping at the sight, Izuku exclaimed, “Whoa dad, we have a huge library under our house? That’s so cool. You said these books were given to us by our ancestors? What are the books about dad?”

“They are the history of a dead civilisation, and they are a legacy of techniques that our family can use to fight, like the pro heroes. Come here, let me tell you the basics of our families history, the detailed explanation can wait for when you are older and will be able to understand more.”

“Okay dad!” Izuku exclaimed. He was very excited to hear what his father had to say, especially since he mentioned that there were techniques within this library that he could use to fight like a pro. It was his dream to be an amazing Hero like All Might, and save everyone with a smile after all.

Leading Izuku over to a couch situated in the red section of the Library, Hisashi looked upon the fire motifs and decorations with a nostalgic fondness, remembering the day that his own mother brought him down here for this same conversation. The history stored within this room was astonishing to say the least.

Sitting down with his son Hisashi began, “Izuku, a very long time ago, before the age of quirks there was another age where people had powers that were not related to genetic quirks but instead were related to spirituality and the life energy within living people. This power was known as bending, since people could use the life energy, or chi, within themselves to bend the natural elements to their will. Each person could only bend one of the 4 elements, those elements being Fire, Air, Earth and Water. Our family is descended from these people and thus we generally do not get quirks, but instead we have the ability to bend elements. Our ancestors were also a mix of all 4 bending types and thus when we Midoriya’s are born, we have a chance of being able to bend any of the 4 elements. I myself am a firebender, but we are going to have to do a little test to see what type of bender you will be my boy.”

Izuku was almost jumping out of his seat with how excited he was, he couldn’t believe that there was a whole different set of powers out there that was different to quirks, and that he was one of the people who had them! But he was still confused about something and so asked his dad, “Why do you call it firebending, but not pyro-kinesis? Is bending different to the telepathic control that quirks give?”

Laughing with some pride at his intelligent son, Hisashi replied, “How clever of you to notice Izuku. You are right, me using firebending instead of pyro-kinesis is on purpose because they are different. Pyro-kinesis users use brainwaves to control and manipulate flames, but bending uses chi and thus has to be directed by the body’s movement. It is for this reason that benders practice martial arts extensively, so that they can move their bodies in a way that makes their bending very strong. Now come to the centre of the room and I will conduct the test to see which type of bending you can use Izuku.”

Quickly following his father to a mat at a low table in the centre of the room, Izuku followed his father’s instruction to sit down in a meditation pose. “Now Izuku, I have been teaching you how to meditate for half a year now for this very purpose, so that you could get in touch with your spiritual side and that your chi will start to instinctively affect the world around you. Now I want you to close your eyes, begin your breathing exercises and calm your mind. While you are doing that I will be conducting experiments on this table to determine what element you can bend, understand?”

“Yes dad,” Izuku replied before following his father’s instructions and beginning to meditate as he had been taught.

Observing his meditating son, Hisashi had a small smile on his face as he went to get the items necessary for the test. Returning to the opposite side of the table from Izuku, Hisashi saw that his sons’ breathing had become deep and even, while all his muscles had entered a relaxed state, calming from the excitement Izuku had felt before. Deeming him ready, Hisashi took out the first item which was a simple wax candle. Placing it on the table in front of his son he lit it with a flame from his own finger and then watched it intently. If Izuku was a firebender, then once his chi connected with the flame, the flame on the candle would begin to grow and shrink with each exhale and inhale of air. After observing the candle with no change for 5 minutes, Hisashi concluded that his son was not a firebender like he was himself and extinguished the flame to move onto the earthbending test.

Removing a small stone from the testing bag, Hisashi placed it on the table in front of his son. He was not sure exactly what the stone was made of, but according to the writings of his ancestors, it is a rock that is very sensitive to earthbending chi and thus when used for the test should begin to lightly vibrate in front of an untrained earthbender that is releasing their chi into their surroundings. However, once again, after observing the rock for about 5 minutes while Izuku was meditating with nothing happening, Hisashi was able to conclude that Izuku was not an earthbender either.

Removing the rock from in front of Izuku, Hisashi now grabbed a sealed glass bottle with water inside. He poured it out onto the table for the waterbending test and it spread over the table in a messy puddle, looking like it would reach the edge in small little rivers at different points. If Izuku was a waterbender, then the water would be drawn together into a perfect circle on the table by his escaping chi. Watching the edges of the water intently for any sign of movement into the middle of the table, Hisashi immediately saw the moment that the water stopped spreading out further on the flat surface. After the messy puddle stopped flowing, the flow immediately started reversing and converging in the middle of the table and began to form a circle, all the while with Izuku still meditating.

Hisashi was very happy with this result. Waterbending was very suitable for Izuku’s personality since it was not outright offensive, but balanced between offence and defence. Izuku will also be very excited about the fact that he will be able to heal people. And there is also the sheer versatility of the power with phase shifts and the availability of water in plants and the air’s humidity. Yes, Hisashi was very pleased, since his son was going to be able to become a great hero as a Waterbender.

Seeing that the water had now formed a perfect circle on the table, it was time for the first lesson, recognising the connection between the water in front of Izuku and his own chi.

“Izuku, maintain your meditative state, but I want you to instead of emptying your head, to instead look inside yourself. Feel the energy of your body, your heart beat that sends blood around your body, your lungs that bring in oxygen, your muscles that move at a mere thought. Feel the energy of your life force, your chi, flowing through yourself with every breath, every beat of your heart, feel from the top of your head to the tips of your fingers and toes. Do you feel it? Focus now.”

A hesitant nod from Izuku, which is good enough for Hisashi. “Good Izuku, now feel that energy escaping your body, feel it flowing from your skin into the air, escaping with every exhaled breath. Do you feel your chi leaving you?” another nod, this one more confident, prompting Hisashi to smile. “Good, now reach forward with your right hand, and when it is fully extended bring it back to your chest slowly but make it flow, good just like that Izu. Now push your hand forward again. And now repeat, pull, push, pull, push.”

At this a small wave had formed within the circle of water, and it was moving forward and backwards with each push and pull of Izuku’s hand. Hisashi was very happy with this speed of progression. At this rate Hisashi may be able to get out of his meditative state and still maintain the connection, but first was to get Izuku to recognise the connection while meditating.

“That’s very good Izu, now I want you to feel within yourself while maintaining that movement. Look for a connection that feels like it is you but also new at the same time. Something that feels like an extension of yourself, but that was not there before, even though it feels natural now. Take your time and give me a nod when you feel it.”

At this step in the process for himself, it took 5 minutes to find the connection between himself and the candle flame that was rising and falling with each movement of his lungs. However, even after he found the connection, after he opened his eyes and left the meditative state he had lost the connection and the candle flame had returned to a simple flame, no longer growing and shrinking. It had taken him 6 days to learn to maintain a connection with fire outside of meditation, and since then he had always felt the connection. However, he was never any good at meditating and he never had the drive to be a hero like his son does. Yes, he did enjoy firebending, the exercise and artistry that mastering it provided was unmatched. He would still go down to the Firebender Hall below the Library quite often to train his firebending as a stress reliever and in order to stay fit. In fact, he was quite looking forward to having a sparring partner in Izuku in a few years, as he was to his own bender parent.

But Izuku had so much more drive than he did for having and using his powers to become a hero. And he had taken so well to meditating, and it had had several other benefits for his young son. For whatever reason, after he had become good at meditating his nervous stuttering had ceased and he seemed to gain a little more confidence in himself. He also seemed to take his time to answer questions properly these days, instead of rushing to answer without thinking and stumbling over his words until he ended up rambling. Now, he would voluntarily meditate for at least 30 minutes before he went to bed. Having asked about this before, his son had told him that it help calm him and empty his head before he went to bed, and so he could fall asleep really quickly. Apparently he would lie awake for a while before he started meditating, kept awake by his clever mind always working, thinking too many thoughts for him to be able to fall asleep easily.

On the other side of the table from him, he was pulled out of his thoughts by seeing Izuku nod his head. Checking his watch he was pleasantly surprised to see that Izuku had found the chi connection between himself and the water on the table in just 2 minutes. That was incredibly fast, but not entirely unexpected mused Hisashi. This actually gave him hope that his son would be a talented bender. However, the real test of his talent was the next step.

”That’s great my boy, now for the next step. That connection is your chi connecting you to your element, “At this Izuku lost a bit of his concentration from surprise, making the little wave that was still moving back and forth on the table falter and shrink a little, but he quickly gained a focused look and the wave recovered. Now this was interesting, it seemed Izuku had strengthened his bending of the water, the wave was a little bigger now, the pool of water it moved across a bit smaller. Hisashi smiled with pride and continued, “Izuku, I want you to try feeding more chi from your bodies flow into the connection, it will be a little difficult, but make sure it is not too much, just a little bit will be enough. Too much chi can break the connection just as easily as too little.”

………

Scrunching his nose cutely, Izuku focused on trying to strengthening the tether he could feel connecting himself to something. He could feel his chi flowing along this tether from himself to what he guesses is the element that he has connected with. He could feel the chi flowing in his body. In fact, the chi flowing in his body was so obvious that he was surprised that he had not noticed it before during one of his meditation sessions. Reaching out to the chi flow along some path that was close to the tether, he tried to redirect a portion of it towards the tether, and to his surprise it worked perfectly.

“Good, I can see that you succeeded,” he heard his father say before continuing, “what you have achieved now is taking conscious control of the connection between you and your element, instead of what was previously a subconscious connection. That means if you lose concentration, the connection will end. However, it also means that if you open your eyes, exit your calmed meditative state but keep concentrating, you will be able to bend outside of a meditative state! That’s what I want you to do right now Izuku. Maintain your concentration on the connection to your element, open your eyes, and see yourself bending.”

Pushing down his excitement, to ensure he does not lose concentration, Izuku focused on the flow of chi from his chi path to the tether and ensured he could maintain it even outside of his meditative state. It has to be like breathing and blinking, he thought to himself, as long as I can maintain a connection subconsciously, then I should be able to bend. All the while still moving his arm back and forth in a push pull motion, Izuku tried to make the chi flow outside of himself less messy. Right now, his chi flowed along his chi paths and any excess escaped from himself through his pores and his breathes, as far as he could tell. But maybe if he could get this escaping excess chi to be directed to the source of his bending at all times, then he would be subconsciously always connected to his element.

Instinctively, Izuku could feel that this was the correct path for him to take, even though it probably meant that he was skipping a step that his father had not taught him yet. Reaching out to the escaping chi, he tried to give it a direction, he focused on an intent, trying to imbue within this excess chi the intent to seek out sources of his element. Then Izuku felt something tighten, and it was almost like he gained an extra sense that had never been there before, but that he instinctively understood. Drawing in a sharp breath, Izuku realised that the chi that was previously constantly escaping his body was now forming into several additional tethers. He had done it! Probably more than what his dad had wanted, but still, he had succeeded in making his excess chi seek out sources of his element and constantly maintain subconscious connections to it. It was time for Izuku to open his eyes and see what his element was. He was confident in being able to maintain his connection with it when he opened his eyes now.

Coming out of his meditative state, Izuku slowly opened his eyes, still moving his arm back and forth and feeling his connection remain strong, as well as all the other connections he could feel extending from his body. And in front of him on the table, as he moved his hand back and forth, was a small wave of water, following the movement of his arm easily. He was amazed, he was doing it, and he was actually bending. Izuku stopped moving his arm, and the wave stopped as well, and then he swirled his hand in a circle while moving it back towards himself, and amazingly, the water created a thin spiral that moved towards him as well. Izuku was so shocked that he did lose his concentration and the water splashed down to floor and table.

Hearing a laugh, Izuku looked up to his dad to see him laughing lightly. “Congratulations Izuku, you’re a waterbender. You’re going to make a great hero my son.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku goes to school and shows off his new Quirk, and Hisashi shows Izuku the training hall for waterbenders under the Library.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that I am posting this a day after the first chapter, but I was so happy after the positive response to the first chapter, that i could not hold back on posting this one as well. I will not make daily updating a regular thing however, just take this as a nice treat.  
> Please enjoy.

The next day, Izuku was so eager to get to school, that he was physically pulling his mother’s hand in a futile effort to go faster. “C’mon mommy, I want to show all of my friends my new Quirk, I can’t wait to see how they’ll react!” That was something his father had told him to lie to everyone about. He could tell them that his quirk was called waterbending, but he could not tell them that his power was different. Dad said it would just be easier this way.

He was going to be the third child in his class to get a Quirk, and his is so cool. Much better than the girl with magnetic skin or the boy who can make his eyeballs fall out. Kacchan was going to be so impressed, Izuku could not wait.

“Relax, Izu. Mommy made sure that we left early today because I need to talk to your teacher about what your quirk can do. So just walk calmly with me and you’ll see your friends in no time.”

Taking a breath to calm himself, Izuku turned his mind to last night after he had lost control of the wave on the table and been congratulated on being a waterbender by his father.

…………

His father had told him that he had a whole lot of books for him to read on waterbender culture, philosophy and technique theory. However, as he was only 4 years old, he did not have a high enough reading level to read those books yet. He was only learning some basic kanji now in kindergarten, so he was far from being able to read, let alone understand concepts like philosophy.

No, those were books that his father would have him read later when he was a little older. Instead, his dad approached the rows of books and scrolls the lined the bookcases that were labelled ‘Techniques’. He went to the first bookshelf all the way on its left side and grabbed the first 2 scrolls from the top. Returning to his sons’ side, he put the scrolls in his hand and said “Izuku, these scrolls contain the first basic stances and bending techniques that you will learn. The first one will teach you the stance and arm movement to move water forward and back, similar to what you were doing earlier. The second one will teach you how to lift a ball of water from in front of you and keep it suspended in the air. Before you go up to your room to practice I have two important pieces of advice for you that won’t be in those scrolls.”

Tamping down his excitement to practice his waterbending, Izuku nodded his head seriously to show his father that he was listening. “Izuku, the power of a waterbender comes from the moon. If you remember our holiday last summer at the beach, do you remember how I showed you that the waves were bigger when the moon was full and told you that it was because the moon was pushing and pulling on the Ocean?” another nod to show that he remembered, “Well you will read about this in the waterbender history books later and in more detail. But the first waterbenders learnt how to waterbend by learning from the moon how to push and pull the Ocean.” Izuku was amazed at this and went wide eyed. The moon was the original waterbender? That was amazing. “And that is where the fundamental teaching of waterbending comes from. Water bending is all about push and pull Izuku. A balance between attack and defence. When practicing you must keep your movements fluid like a river and always moving, so that you do not lose your connection to the water. Do you understand?” Izuku nodded, he may be young, but he was clever. He remembered how when he had stopped moving his hand in a spiral, the water had stopped spiralling as well and had dropped to the floor. The movement of push and pull and balance being fundamental to waterbending also made sense to him, on some instinctual level, he just seemed to understand it. However, he had not lost the connection like his father said, he could still feel the connection to it now from the other side of the room. It had simply stopped moving when he did, because the chi flow from himself had ceased. He wondered if this had to do with him directing his excess chi to seek out sources of water, instead of simply dissipating. This also indicated to Izuku that to keep his chi directing the water, he would have to maintain movement, and the most logical way for water to move would be fluidly, right? So moving ‘like a river flows’ as his father said also made a lot of sense to him.

Dragging Izuku out of his head, his father put his hand on his shoulder, “Good Izuku, I can see that you are thinking about my advice properly. Remember that the advice passed down to us by our ancestors is wisdom and teachings that have been refined by countless masters. So heed their advice and warnings when learning from them Izu. Now run upstairs and practice the techniques of those scrolls in the bathroom. Dinner should be ready in 2 hours, and I’m pretty sure your mom made your favourite for your birthday.”

“Yay, thanks dad, this is the best birthday ever and I haven’t even had Katsudon yet!” Izuku exclaimed as he ran up the stairs to get to the main house, and then up to the second story to go into his bedroom that was decked out in posters of all his favourite Pro Heroes, and then into the on suit bathroom that he had so that he could practice.

……….

He had practiced for the full 2 hours before dinner and had been successful in using both techniques. His favourite was the one to lift the ball of water from his bath and then move it around himself. He had even pushed it at the wall and it had made a big splash! Izuku bet that when he got stronger and learnt more techniques that he would be able to turn pushing water away from him into a strong attack.

When he got down for dinner he was very tired though and had fallen into a peaceful and happy sleep almost immediately after he was done eating.

Now he was standing outside of his kindergarten with his backpack on, his mom holding one of his hands, and a bucket in his other to full up with water in the bathroom and show his classmates his ‘Quirk’.

Walking into his classroom, his mom took him to talk to the teacher first. With a quick look around he saw that he was actually the first one there, so his mom had been right that they had left early enough. Looking back up to his teacher Izuku exclaimed, “Sensei, sensei, I got my quirk yesterday! And it’s really really cool!”

“Oh good morning Izu-kun, that is so exciting. What is it?” she asked as she bent down with a soft smile to be eye level with her excited student.

“It’s called waterbending and I can control water by moving my body. Last night I was practicing and I was able to throw a ball of water at the wall in my bathroom!” Izuku was still holding his mother’s hand, but he was excitedly jumping from foot to foot as he spoke about his quirk and how it worked.

“Wow Izu-kun, that sounds amazing. I’m sure you’ll make a great hero with a quirk like that,” She smiled at the boy as she noticed the way his eyes lit up when she said that, then she noticed that two other kids had arrived over his shoulder and said, “Oh Izu-kun look, there are Tsubasa and Ichigo arriving now. Why don’t you go and show them your new quirk outside where the water won’t make a mess, while I talk to your mommy, okay?”

“Okay sensei.” and with that Izuku ran off to show off his quirk, leaving his mother behind to explain the extent of his Quirk to his sensei.

“Tsubasa, Ichigo, guess what? I got my Quirk!” Izuku said as he ran up to the two boys, not even giving them time to reply. Being simple kindergartners themselves, they got unbelievably excited and asked him to show him the quirk, prompting Izuku to explain that he needed to go and fill up the bucket in his hand and that they should wait for him on the playground.

Now, Izuku was on the playground surrounded by seven kids his age since some more had shown up while he was filling his bucket. They were all waiting in quiet excitement as he started moving his two hands up and down above the bucket, prompting the water to also move up and down with his movements. The other toddlers gasped at this.

“So cool.”

“Wow, moving water is definitely a heroes quirk”

“Yeah, Izuku can be like a water powered Endeavor!”

And then, a ball of water floated up and out of the bucket to float between Izuku’s two hands. When he was practicing last night he found that this was the best way to keep the ball of water floating in one spot, as long as he kept moving his hand around the stationary ball. The kids around them, now fifteen of them, were all staring in amazement at this display, which made Izuku want to show off a little bit.

The next moment Izuku was moving his arms in order to move the ball of water. He made it orbit his head a few times and then move lower to his legs where he made it go through his legs and then back around from his back to his front. A bunch of kids started murmuring more praise at this and some started laughing. Making sure to keep his arms flowing to maintain the chi flow to the water, he started stepping forward to go closer to his classmates. With a giggle he moved the ball above a classmate’s head, who ducked down, and then brought it to a stop in front of one of the girls that had always been nice to him. She reached out and touched it, which caused a ripple to spread out along the ball but it otherwise was unaffected by the soft touch, which prompted a giggle out of her. Izuku then moved back towards the bucket and stopped his hands directly above it. Then cutting his chi flow, the ball dropped back into the bucket.

The kids that were all gathered around him were amazed and heaped praise on Izuku. However, he did not get cocky because of it. He had had to practice hard last night to be able to do those simple movements, and this was supposedly one of the most basic waterbending techniques. Izuku had seen the bookcases in the waterbending section. He had barely scratched the surface of what true waterbenders were able to accomplish. Seeing the huge gap between what he could do now and what he would have to work hard to be able to accomplish, kept him humble. That didn’t mean that he was not immensely happy that all his classmates were proud of him and also believed he could be a Hero. Every step he took forward along the path of Waterbending brought him closer to being a person who could save everyone with a smile, just like All Might!

It was at this point that the teacher called all the kids in to begin the day. Stopping Izuku at the door, the teacher had explained that she saw him and was very impressed at his display and especially his control, prompting a blush from Izuku. She asked him to not use his Quirk indoors as that could make things inside like paper and artwork wet and damaged. Izuku nodded and promised he would be careful.

It was at this point that Izuku noticed that Kacchan was not at his usual seat next to Izuku, which was weird since the ash blond was never late. He must be sick, Izuku worried to himself, but then focused on his class.

……..

At lunch that day Izuku discovered another use for his Waterbending that made him even more popular amongst his classmates.

One of the girls had spilt some grape juice on her white skirt and was very upset about it. Izuku heard her sniffling from his side of the classroom and went over to see if he could help, as his instincts directed him to do all he could to help. When he got there the other girls were trying to get the sniffling girl to move to the bathroom so they could try cleaning the purple stain out with water.

Feeling a connection to the liquid in her dress Izuku got an idea. “Aimi-chan,” Izuku began, “I think I might be able to help with my quirk, can I try?”

Looking away from her friends the girls was shocked by Izuku offering to help since they had never really spoken before and weren’t friends. But then she remembered his display this morning and thought how cool it was. So she nodded that he could try and get the stain out for her with his Quirk.

Seeing her nod, Izuku reached out with his hand and then feeling his chi flow, he pulled at the grape juice, causing a small amount of the Juice to gather in front of Izuku from out of Aimi’s dress. Looking back to her dress Izuku saw that he had completely removed the stain and he gave a big smile, while all the girls around Aimi-chan’s dress gasped. Losing his focus the small blob of grape juice in front of him fell to the floor, but no one noticed as Aimi surged forward to give Izuku a big hug and proclaimed loudly, “My Hero! Thank you Izu-kun, my mommy would have been so upset if I had shown up after school with a stain in my skirt again. You saved me Izuku!”

And it was at this point that the rest of his class saw how willing Izuku was to use his cool and heroic quirk to help people, and the idea that this is how a Hero should be, helpful, was planted in the classes collective mind. Izuku also went home this day feeling so happy and determined to further his knowledge of waterbending. So that he would be able to help even more people like he had helped Aimi-chan, and feel like he had done something amazing many more times.

When Izuku got home, he immediately went up to his dad and told him all about his day and how he had been Aimi-chan’s hero. His dad told him he was proud of him and his progress, at which point Izuku asked if he could have more scrolls to practice more techniques with.

Hisashi decided that it was time to show Izuku the training rooms below the library that were geared towards each element, so he sent him upstairs to get his technique scrolls from the previous night and then meet him down in the Library.

While waiting for Izuku, Hisashi grabbed the next two scrolls on the shelf, at which point Izuku came racing down the stairs.

“Daddy, I’ve got my scrolls from last night to trade for new ones. What are the new techniques going to teach me?”

“Well, before I give these to you Izuku there is something that I want to show you, now follow me.” And Hisashi started walking to a big door that was opposite to the staircase that led down into the library from their home.

When they got to the door, Izuku noticed that the door was metal and had a button next to it like an elevator would. But that doesn’t make sense, why would there be an elevator in the library? Maybe it goes back up to the house somewhere, Izuku thought to himself.

Pressing the button next to the doors, they slid open for Hisashi and he stepped in, hearing a gasp behind him.

“Daddy, is this an elevator? But why? Where does it go?”

“Well Izu, it goes to our training halls of course. We have a big training hall for each element that is geared towards them specifically. You’ll see them now, but each one is 4 stories tall and 200 meters long and wide, making a large training area that is big enough for each elements larger and more destructive moves to be practiced. We are going to the Waterbender Hall.” Hisashi chuckled at his sons’ awe struck expression, especially considering that at four, he likely doesn’t understand just how large each of these training halls actually are.

Hisashi pressed the symbol with the Waterbender Symbol on it, and their elevator started descending. He remembers how awestruck he had been when he saw the Firebender Hall for the first time, so he was looking forward to seeing Izuku’s face when he saw the Waterbender Hall. As the Elevator slowed to a stop, Hisashi turned to look at his son and said while waving his arms to the elevator doors, “Welcome to the Waterbender Hall Izuku, this is where you will do the majority of your training when practicing new techniques.”

Hisashi was not disappointed. As the doors opened Izuku’s eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped so low in awe that Hisashi was a little worried he had dislocated his jaw. Continuing anyway, “The Waterbender Hall is a room full of flowing artificial rivers, with swathes of land in between them with two notable exceptions. There in the far right corner is a miniature lake that is 40 meters long on each edge. You will use that area to practice some of your more advanced techniques that are either underwater and require large amounts of water. And here in the close left hand corner is the frozen section. This is where you will practice your Icebending techniques, although when you get good enough you will be able to practice Icebending anywhere in the room since water can be turned directly into ice. It will probably take you a year or two of practice to do that though.”

Looking at Izuku, he was still in awe of the room, but Hisashi could see that he had been listening, especially when he exclaimed, “Wait, I can make and bend Ice?”

Laughing, Hisashi told him, “Yes Izuku, a master waterbender can control all forms of water, including steam and ice. Also, you will learn later how to draw water from places that are not normal sources of water, like directly from the air, or from the inside of plants. Those are advanced techniques though, you must not rush yourself or skip steps in your training. What I am about to tell you next Izuku, is very important, so listen carefully.”

Looking at his dad, Izuku could see how serious his dad was about what he had to say. His expression became one of determination and he nodded.

Ignoring how cute Izuku looked with a determined expression, Hisashi continued, “The waterbending technique scrolls in the Library are put in the order that will result in the best outcomes in your training. If you skip a technique because it is too hard so that you can move on, then you will suffer consequences in your training further down the line that may cause you to never be able to master waterbending. And if you do not master waterbending Izuku, then you will not be the best Hero you can possibly be. So you must promise me that you will follow the order that the scrolls are set out in, and fully master each technique before moving onto the next one, even if the technique is boring or very hard to get right. So?”

Looking worried Izuku stated hurriedly, “Dad, I promise to follow the correct order for the bending techniques, I want to be a hero like All Might, and that means I have to be strong. So for the sake of being the best hero that will save everyone, I will train hard and properly, I promise dad.”

Satisfied with Izuku’s answer, Hisashi gave a warm smile and nodded, “That’s my boy,” he stated as he ruffled his sons hair.

“Now, let me show you where the storage rooms are, there are training dummies in there and some punching bags for you to practice your martial arts that you’ll learn from the scrolls on. Then you can begin your training for the day, I want to see you do the first two techniques to make sure you have them right before I’ll give you the new scrolls. Understood?”

“Yes, daddy.” Izuku said as he happily followed after his father. When they were close to the doors of what Izuku assumed was the storage room, Izuku noticed that there was another set of doors further down the same wall. Curious, Izuku asked, “Dad, what is behind those doors over there?”

Looking over to where his son was pointing, Hisashi was shocked with himself. Just the day before he was excited about telling Izuku about the healing abilities of Waterbenders, and now he has forgotten not only to tell him, but to show him the extra training room designed specifically for it.

“My bad Izu, I completely forgot to tell you about it. That room over there is where you will learn to use waterbending to heal injuries. However, you will not be able to learn any healing until you can read Kanji properly and you have to complete the first technique bookcase in the library. That bookcase contains all the basic movements of waterbending that more advanced moves build on, the basic martial art stances that waterbenders use, and basic chi control. It is only when you have basic chi control fully mastered that you will be allowed in there to learn water healing.”

Shocked and excited, Izuku exclaimed, “Dad, why didn’t you tell me that I could heal people? That’s amazing! How is waterbending so strong? I’m so happy, if I can heal people I’ll be an even better Hero!” Izuku shouted with a jump for joy.

With a small smile, Hisashi stated, “Yes Izu, it will make you a better hero, but water healing is a very difficult art to master and you are going to have to work very hard. At the rate you are going at I think you will be done with the first of the technique bookcases in just over a year. The real challenge will be you learning to read properly. To learn healing there are a lot of books to read that contain theories and applications that will require a high level of reading comprehension. I know you are smart Izu, but this is not something to be rushed. We may have to wait for at least 2 years, unless you can show me that you can read at the level required earlier. You should start after dinner every night with the books on waterbender history in the library, your mom and I can help you with anything you don’t understand.”

Nodding, Izuku showed that he understood. He had a long road ahead of him if he was ever going to be the best Hero that he could be. After all, there were at least 10 bookcases on techniques, and that’s not counting the bookcases that contained the history, philosophy and culture of the Waterbenders. From now on his day would be waking up and going to school, then training techniques in the correct order in the afternoons before dinner. After dinner he would read the first history book and get his parents to begin teaching him more advanced Kanji. He was determined to learn healing as soon as possible so that he could be really good at it by the time he was a hero, so he had to learn to read as fast as possible. Izuku’s horizons had been broadened today and now he truly knew how far he had to go. The easiest bookcase would take a year to master and there were 10 of them, so he likely would not have mastered his waterbending before he enters a hero school. There was Icebending, steambending and healing to learn on top of waterbending. Even though he had had his ego a little inflated at school today, he had now been completely humbled by his father. There was so much to do, and Izuku was looking forward to all of it.

(Of course, being only four years old, he did not completely stick to his strict training regime, and would still go to the park to play with friends as well).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to do this in the first chapter, but I actually have a Tumblr that I go on fairly often, mostly to look at other peoples art, but don't really use so much as an active member. However, if you message me or whatever on Tumblr, I go on often enough that I should reply quite quickly.
> 
> So feel free to come and shout at me here: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/kal-stormblessed79


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So I am in the middle of writing Exams here in South Africa at my University, so I'm taking a break from writing right now, until my exams are over in a few weeks. But worry not, Just before exams I finished writing Chapter 7, so while exams are going on, I will continue to upload more chapters on a regular basis. Until next time!

The next day Izuku was one of the first to arrive at kindergarten and quickly some kids gathered around him to talk to him about his ‘Quirk’, but also to talk to him about other topics. Mainly favourite heroes and what to do during recess after lunch. It was reassuring to Izuku that while people were impressed with his waterbending, it was not the only thing that they cared about when talking to him. After all, he had a lot more to offer this world then just his bending ability.

A few minutes before class was set to begin, Izuku saw Katsuki walk into the classroom, and a bit of tension from worry, that he didn’t even realise was there, released from his shoulders. He called out to his best friend, “Kacchan, hey, where were you yesterday? Were you sick?”

Approaching his excitable nerd, Katsuki was not going to admit that he had been confined to his bed by his hag of a mother because of a little flu, besides he was fine now, so who cared. Scoffing, Katsuki replied fondly, “Don’t worry about it nerd, I’m here now aren’t I? So what did I miss yesterday, Izu?”

“Yeah, you’re right Kacchan, if you’re here then it’s fine,” Izuku said with his signature blinding smile, that often caused Katsuki to squint due to how bright it was. Then Izuku continued, “But Kacchan, you missed something very important yesterday,” Izuku said with a mischievous smile that caused the other kids around him to giggle. What the hell, thought Katsuki, these other kids never hang around him and Izu, what is going on… “Kacchan I got my Quirk yesterday!”

Shocked, but ultimately happy for his friend, he exclaimed, “What! No way, congrats Izu! Is it a good one? Can you be a hero with it?” Katsuki really hoped it was a good one, they had promised each other that they would be a hero duo together. But if one of them has a weak quirk, then they will hold the other back, and Katsuki refused to be held back from being the best.

However, instead of a reply from the nerd, the other kids around Izuku started excitedly telling him what Izuku’s Quirk could do. From what he could gather from the prattle, he had some water control quirk, and yes it was strong and that Izuku was going to be a great hero because he had already used his quirk to help some girl. Still, all the noise was making him angry however, so he lashed out, “Oi, would you shut up, I asked my best friend what his quirk was, not you losers.” Then he turned to Izuku to get the real story from his mouth.

With a shy smile, Izuku began, “Well Kacchan, my quirk is called Waterbending and it is similar to hydro-kinesis quirks, except instead of controlling water with my mind I have to control it by moving my body. So I’m going to start learning martial arts soon to help develop my quirk. Right now I can float a ball of water and wave it around, and I can make a circle of water flow in front of me.” Izuku stated with a shy little smile.

Katsuki was impressed with his friend. There were plenty of heroes around the world with hydro-kinesis quirks, but one of their weaknesses was their low mobility and lack of close combat skill. But if he had to move his body to control water then didn’t that mean he negated those weaknesses? And he is looking ahead to the future by already planning on studying martial arts to ensure he has good control of his quirk. That is exactly the kind of qualities Katsuki needs in a Hero Partner.

Shooting Izuku a smirk, he says, “Hey, that sounds really impressive nerd, you better show me what you can do later, so that I can think of cool moves for our hero duo!” Katsuki says while throwing a fist in the air, followed by Izuku mimicking him, “Also, good thinking on the martial arts. If you have to use your body to move the water, then the faster and stronger you are, the better your quirk will be.” Katsuki finishes with a smile.

At this point the teacher calls the class to attention to start the day and the losers that were around Izuku drift back to their own seats. ‘Good riddance’, thinks Katsuki, ‘he and Izuku do not need them distracting them’.

As Katsuki sits next to his best friend, he reflects back on how their friendship has changed over the last year, now that they are both 4 years old and getting their quirks. Its a couple more days until summer break starts and Katsuki is hoping to get his Quirk soon.

Last year when they were both three years old, Katsuki was the leader in their friendship and Izuku was always the follower. He would always stutter and fall over his own words which Katsuki had found really irritating. If he was honest with himself now, he had started to see Izuku as less of an equal, and maybe even beneath him, what with his weak personality and always needing help and never standing up for himself. Katsuki is not an idiot, he had been able to tell when he wanted to do something and Izuku did not, but he would still always do it, like him always agreeing would make Katsuki happy. But Katsuki does not need pity from his friends. They are supposed to be equals, and he can do what the nerd wants instead sometimes, that is how friendships are supposed to work. He was seriously getting angry with how Izuku was treating him last year, but then, about six months ago something started to change, and it made their friendship so much better.

For some reason Izuku had stopped being a stuttering mess all the time and had even started standing up for himself sometimes. Not all the time mind you, but it was definitely an improvement. Katsuki rewarded him with a roll of his eyes and an affectionate punch to the shoulder when he did express his opposition to Katsuki’s opinion. And even though being challenged irritated him a bit, it was so much better than Izuku always agreeing with him like he thought he was better than Katsuki for always letting him get his way. No, now Izuku treated him like they were equals, and that is how Katsuki likes it. He enjoys Izuku’s company a lot more now that they are more equal in their relationship.

Izuku’s confidence had continued to grow over the months, and now that he had gotten a strong Quirk? Katsuki could see that he was sitting straighter in his seat, no longer hunching down with a meek roll to his shoulders. Katsuki tries hard to control his emotions, but he cannot help but let a little genuine smile onto his face. Yes, he definitely prefers this Izuku that has confidence in himself, but was still his nerdy heroic self. Now Katsuki just needed to get his quirk, and they could begin training to be the best heroes Japan has ever had the pleasure of seeing.

………..

1 month later, it is summer break and Izuku has been working hard. He is halfway through the first History book and he is loving it. Even though it is a history book, it is like a fantasy story with the mythical creatures that used to exist, and how the first benders learnt from the moon and ocean spirits to bend water.

He is also up to the second shelf of techniques on the first bookcase, of which there are 10 shelfs. Also, to Izuku’s mild surprise, he has not learnt much waterbending yet, and instead the first several technique manuals were movement techniques that taught the body to be supple, flexible and to have faster reactions. They were tiring to practice, and always left him on the floor with shaky muscles. Apparently strength training for his body would come later. He had also been taught how to throw a proper punch, and some basic stances that he had to perfect before he could move onto more advanced martial arts. He still practiced the three waterbending techniques that he had been given, the push-pull technique that had a sideways standing stance, the ball of water technique, and the water ring technique. All of them had improved quite a bit, with his wave being as tall as him and as wide as him as he pushed and pulled the water. The ball had also grown in size and he could keep it going around himself for longer before he got tired now. His water ring was also larger now, it originally being the size of his head, he could now dive through it without touching the sides, which he always had fun doing.

However, what he was practicing right now was his chi control. He was meditating by a waterfall in the Waterbender Hall, and focusing on his chi paths. After mastering this scroll he would get another Bender technique, so he was quite keen on that. He had to focus on identifying all his chi points, points where his main chi paths connected, and formed a sort of pool of chi. These areas were apparently very important for chi control and were the focus points of bending techniques. When one of the chi points moved with the body it could affect the water in big ways. So it was important to know where all the chi pools were in order to master advanced bending techniques. 

Izuku was also making really good progress on it. He had been given a paper with a human body outline on it, and he had started mapping out his chi points on the paper, starting with the biggest chi pool over the stomach area, and moving outward from there. So far he was about halfway done, but it was getting quite hard as there was a lot more detail to the chi paths inside his body than he had realised. There was also the problem that there are many smaller paths that branched off the main chi paths and were not connected to any chi pools, but he still ended up going down them mentally sometimes, not realising that it was a branching path and getting himself confused. But due to the mapping he was doing, he was also becoming much more aware of the chi flow within himself. That could only help him in the future, he was sure.

“Izuku,” he heard his mom call over the intercom system that she uses to communicate with him when he is busy training, “I just got a call from Mitsuki-san, and she says that Katsuki-kun got his quirk this morning and they have been at the registration offices all morning. Katsuki wants you to come over to his house so that he can show you his quirk and then you kids can play together all afternoon. Come upstairs now and I’ll walk you to the Bakugo’s.”

As Inko hangs the intercom back up, Izuku is beyond excited. Kacchan has his quirk and wants to show it off. If he wants to show it off, then that means it must be a quirk he is proud of and that is hero worthy! So now they can definitely be a Hero Duo. Izuku will not say it out loud, but he was a little afraid of what would have happened to their friendship if Kacchan had gotten a weak Quirk. He would not have abandoned Kacchan obviously, but long term Izuku would have gone to UA and Kacchan would not have. He does not know if they would have remained friends had they gone to different schools for high school. But now, that worry is behind them Izuku beams a smile as he runs up the stairs of the library to the house proper. 

“Mom, I’m already by the door putting my shoes on. Come on, let’s go, I want to see Kacchan’s Quirk!” Izuku shouts to his mother from the front door of his house.

Once his mom joins him they quickly exit their house and are walking down the street in the direction of the Bakugo’s place. Izuku’s dad is a wealthy business man and Kacchan’s parents are big in the fashion industry, so they both live in a well off area, with large houses and wide streets. Izuku was aware that his house had been in the Midoriya family for a long time, and now that he knew what was below it he understood why. But even though his dad had inherited the big house they lived in, he also knew they were wealthy enough to live in the area. Izuku loved it here, because the streets were not busy, and there were large parks that bordered forests nearby. Because it was so safe, he was allowed to walk the short distance to the Bakugo’s every now and again by himself, after all they really were only 3 minutes away by walking. And he and Kacchan could sometimes go by themselves to the park, as long as they stuck together. He always felt so grown up when he was allowed to go by himself to these places. And now that Kacchan had a quirk he could protect himself with, it was likely that their parents would give them even more freedom. Maybe they would even be allowed to explore the forest behind the park? There had to be some amazing places that they could train in there, and so many adventures to have while exploring. Izuku was basically exploding with his excitement!

When they arrived at the Bakugo house and his mother knocked on the door, Izuku removed his hand from his mothers, and was bouncing from foot to foot in excitement. As the door opened he rushed inside before he could even greet Auntie Mitsuki, prioritising looking for his best friend. Seeing him standing just a few steps behind his mother at the door, with an excited grin on his face, Izuku jumped at him and smothered him in a hug whilst saying, “Congratulations Kacchan, I’m so happy for you. You finally got your quirk, now we can train together to be amazing heroes.”

Katsuki is usually not one for physical affection, but right now he could feel the excitement radiating off his best friend, and he was in a pretty good mood himself, so he allowed it and maybe he even hugged back, but if anyone said he did, then he would kill them.

Pushing Izuku back Katsuki said, “Hey nerd, come out to the backyard so I can show you my quirk, you are going to love it.” And then he turned and towards his large sliding glass doors that led to his garden.

Turning around to see Izuku with a massive smile on his face and looking at him with so much excitement in his eyes, Katsuki felt his chest swell up with a little bit of pride at the attention of his best friend. He was proud of his quirk, it was strong and powerful, and he would definitely be able to be a strong hero with it. Now it was time to show his best friend what he could do.

“Okay, pay attention nerd, here it is.” Raising his hands up, he focused on his palms and then watched as they lit up in miniature explosions. They were just little sparks right now but they were loud and really fun. They also made his hands feel pleasantly warm.

“Whoa, Kacchan, are those explosions? That’s amazing! This will be great for clearing rubble during rescue situations and for fighting villains! Oh, and if they can get big and have a lot of power, I bet you will be able to use it to propel yourself in the air and move around up there with more explosions! Did the quirk doctor tell you how they work?”

Katsuki was a little stunned, while he had thought of the first two himself, using his explosions to push himself around a battlefield and jump higher was not something he had even considered. But it definitely made sense, and it would make him an even better Hero. This was why he called Izuku a nerd, but it was also one the reasons he was his best friend. Izuku being a nerd about quirks and heroes meant he often had great ideas like this.

Refocusing on their conversation, Katsuki replies, “That’s a great idea Izu, jumping around with my quirk should be possible when I get them bigger. And yeah, the doctor said my sweat glands have started to sweat Nitro-glycerine, which I can use the palms of my hands to ignite!”

“Ah that’s so cool, we have to look up the chemical and research it so we understand how it works and how strong you’ll be able to get one day! I wonder what kind of limits you have. Ah, this is so exciting, with your explosions and my waterbending we will be able to be a great Hero Duo! And since we cover both hot and cold, we cover each other’s weaknesses too.”

“You bet we do Izu, those villains out there won’t know what hit them!” Katsuki exclaimed while throwing a hand in the air, but instead of his usual fist it was an open palm with explosions going off.

And so Katsuki and Izuku spent the rest of that afternoon, and many afternoons of that summer, playing with each other and using their quirks while fighting imaginary bad guys. Izuku would hit the villains with balls of water, while Katsuki exploded them with his sweat and they had a large laugh and ended up exhausted, where they eventually fell asleep for a nap against each other under a tree in the Bakugo backyard. Their mothers had watched the whole thing with smiles and laughs on their lips from how cute their boys were together when they were playing, but if they ever mentioned to their sons that they were playing the boys would vehemently deny it and say instead that they were training. Their mothers thought it was cute and would let their little 4 year olds do as they pleased.


End file.
